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Servants

Bold and irreverent drama following the fortunes of a group of servants in an 1850s English country house.

Servants enter Taplows not through the elegant facade of its portico but by the back stairs. Like the scenes in Oscar-winning film Gosford Park, life below stairs is a hive of activity.

Intrigue, rivalry, secrets, laughter and love are all present - and portrayed by a cast including Joe Absolom as second footman; Orla Brady as housekeeper; Christopher Fulford as head butler; Kenny Doughty as first footman; and Felicity Jones as nursemaid and housemaid.

Servants is written by Lucy Gannon, who's known for such TV hits as Soldier, Soldier, Bramwell, Hope and Glory and Insiders. She reveals how she was concerned with what really mattered to the early Victorian working classes and how they lived.

"What's really interesting about this era is that it was before Queen Victoria lost Albert and went into interminable mourning," Lucy says. "There wasn't that air of po-facedness about this time, the sort of pious uprightness that we think of as typically Victorian.

"What is a real eye-opener is how very similar ordinary people were to us today. Despite social and economic restrictions, they were fun, loving and aspirant. Their language is colourful and energetic, splattered with swear words. It is notable how many choice words haven't changed over the years!"